Presser-foot and mechanism for operating the same.



6 0 9 1 6 nm E P D E T N E T A P m. L P P I H W N J PRESSER FOOT AND MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18. 1902.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

JOEL N. WHIPPLE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO LANDIS MACHINE COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

PRESSER-FOOT AND MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1906.

Application filed February 18, 1902. Serial No. 94,597.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOEL N. I/VHIPPLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Presser-Feet and Mechanism for Operating the Same, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a view, chiefly in side elevation, of a portion of a sewing-machine provided with my present invention. Fig. 2 is a view of like character, the presser-foot being shown in a different position. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, partly in section, illustrating the clamp used in connection with the bar which operates the presser-foot. Figs. 4 and 5 are. de tail views of said clamp, and Fig. 6 is a view illustrating a modified form of mechanism for operating and releasing the clamp.

My invention relates to improvements in Presser-feet and mechan sm for operating the same, and more particularly to presserfeet and operating mechanism for the same adapted to be used in connection with sewing-machines of the type forming the subjectmatter of a patent granted December 15, 1903, and numbered 747,284 on an application filed by me.

My object is to provide a presser-foot with operating mechanism of such character that the said foot is raised and lowered automatically, it being possible also to operate the presser-foot manually when so desired.

To these ends and also to improve generally upon devices of the character inclicated, my invention consists in the various matters hereinafter described and claimed.

WVhile the present presser-foot and its operating mechanism are particularly adapted for use in the sewing' machine previously mentioned, it will at once be apparent that the same can be employed upon sewing-machines of other types and also that the same can be employed upon machines other than sewing-machines.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 represents a portion of the frame of the machine. 12 indicates an operating shaft suitably supported upon said frame and receiving its motion from any appropriate source, and 21 represents what maybe termed the head-frame of the machine. A cam 19 is mounted upon the shaft 12 and rotates therewith, and a plate 22 is suitably supported upon the frame of the machine and is adapted to have the work placed upon the same.

23 indicates a shaft suitably supported upon the machine-frame, and 45 indicates a presser-foot pivotally mounted upon the said shaft, the inwardly extending arm of said presser-foot being slotted to cooperate with a pin on the lower end of a bar 46. This bar 46 is preferably non-circular in cross-section and is slidingly mounted in appropriate lugs or ears extending from the head-frame 21. A spring 47 is connected to the bar 46 in such manner that its energy is constantly exerted to lift said bar and in so doing force the presser-foot 45 down upon the work.

In the operation of certain machines-e g., in the operation of the sewing-machine forming the subject-matter of my before-mentioned patent, No. 747,284it is necessary that the presser-foot shall be forced down hard upon the work and held in its work-engaging position to hold the said work in position for a time, that said presser-foot shall then release the work in order to permit the same to be fed into position to receive the next stitch, and that the presser-foot shall be self-adjusting forvarious thicknesses of work. To accomplish the above, I provide a clamp which cooperates with the bar 46 and the spring 47 in such manner that in the operation of the machine said bar is raised by the said spring and lowered by the action of the said clamp, the limit of the upward movement of the bar being determined by the thickness of the work.

48 indicates a cam member in the form of an arm, to the inner end of which is connected a bail 48, said bail embracing the presser-bar 46. Between the inner end of arm 48 and the bar 46 is arranged a clamping-block 49 in the reciprocation of the presser-bar is provided for m a manner wlnch will be hereinafter described. There is a small amount of idle movement of the arm 48 with respect to clamping-block 49, during which idle movement the clamping-block is freethat is, it is not bound against the presser-bar.

50 indicates a bail connected to the bail 48 and also to the end of a spring 51, whose energy is directed in ulling said bail upwardly and outwardly. ne purpose of this spring is to free the presser-bar of the clamp when said presser-bar is manually operated.

The inwardly-extending arm of the presserfoot carries relief-spring 52, which serves as a buffer to cushion the upward movement of said arm.

53 indicates a bifurcated rock-arm mounted on a shaft having a bearing in the headframe 21, the opposite end of said shaft carrying a depending arm 54, upon Whose lower end is arranged a rollerfittingin acam-groove in the cam 19.

55 indicates a yielding wall in the camgroove which permits the arm 54 to be moved rearwardly to an abnormal osition, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, or the purpose of relieving the clamp, so that the presser-bar and presser-foot can be manually operated. In order to hold the bifurcated arm 53 depressed, I arrange a lever 56 thereabove, whose operation may be understood by eX- amining the drawings.

In operation when the bifurcated arm 53 is de ressed by the lever 56 the clampingsadd e 49 is relieved from pressure and the 4' presser-bar 46 may be moved up and down by hand. In introducing new work under the presser-foot the bar 46 is depressed and the work arranged in position, after which the bar is released and the presser -foot brought against the work by the spring 47. The lever 56is now moved to relieve the arm 53, and instantly the spring-pressed wall in the cam 19 causes said arm to be elevated, forcing the clamping-saddle against the bar and locking the bar to the arm. The tendency of the spring 51 is to hold the bail 50 in elevated position. Assuming that the presser-bar has been raised by the spring 47 and that the arm 48 has been thrown into the position illustrated in Fig; 1, the cam-surfaces between the said arm and the clamping-saddle are such that the said saddle is forced against the presser-bar,whereby said presser-bar is locked in its elevated position. The arm 48 occupies the position just described when the roller upon the lever-arm 54 is in the portion of the groove of the cam 19 which lies the least distance from the axis of rotation of said cam. As the cam continues its rotation and the said roller enters and travels in the radial enlargement of said groove the arm 48 is thereby first momentarily brought to its horizontal position, releasin the clamp, and is then rocked downward y upon its pivotal connection with the bail 48 to again clamp the sad- -rnove toward the heretofore-mentioned cen ter of rotation, whereby the rock-arm 53 moves one end of the arm 48 upwardly, and

the spring 51, connected to the bail 50, moves the other endof the said arm 48 upwardly, the spring 47 being thus permitted to simultaneously elevate the presser-bar. When the presser-bar reaches the limit of its upward movement by reason of the presser-foot reaching its position firmly engaging the work, continued movement of the cam 19 serves to rock the arm 48 upon its pivotal connection with the bail 48 until the said arm reaches its horizontal position, whereby the clamp is again momentarily released and the spring 51 raises the bail 50 and the inner end of the arm 48 to fully-elevated position, the outer end of said arm 48 being raised and the clamp thus reclamped upon the presser-bar by the con tinued movement of the cam 19.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of a device for permitting the manual operation of the presser-bar, in which form the parts 48, 48 49, and 54 are respectively similar to the before-mentioned arm 48, bail 48, saddle-block 49, and arm 54. The lever 53 is generally similar to the before-mentioned lever 53, but has one of its jaws pivoted, said jaw being indicated at 59. A lever 57 006perates with this jaw, and a spring 58 is designed to force the jaw open when the lever is in one position, and when the lever is in the other position said spring passes the line of centers and locks the lever. There are appropriate stops for limiting the movement of v the lever.

In operation,'assuming that the parts have stopped in substantially the posltion illustrated in Fig. 1'i. e., with the presser-foot depressed and the arm 48 raised and causing the presser-b ar to be clamp edthe lever 56 (or 57) is swung into the position indicated by dotted lines, thus leaving the presser-bar free to be manually depressed and the work is placed in position under the presser-foot, the spring 47 returning the presser-foot to workholding position as soon as the work has been arranged and the presser-bar released by the operator. The lever 56 or 57, as the case may be, is now thrown into normal position,

(illustrated by full lines in Figs. 1 and 6, respectively,) and the arm 48 is then thrown into raised position to effect clamping of the presser-bar, such throwing of the said arm being effected by the spring-actuated part 55 or 59. While the roller upon the leverarm 54 is in the portion of the cam-groove here shown as concentric with the center of rotation of the cam 19, the presser-foot is locked down upon the work, and the work is thus held firmly in position for the proper length of timee. g., while an awl is being forced up through said work. Further movement of the cam operates to lift the presser-foot, and during the time that the presser-foot is so lifted the work can be fed in any appropriate manner. After the work has been fed the presser-foot is again operated to grip said work, the cam and the connections between the same and the presser-foot serving to raise the presser-foot and the spring 47 serving to depress the same at the desired intervals.

I am aware that many minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my device can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byUnited States Letters Patent, is

1. The combination withapresser-foot, of a presser-bar, connection between said presserfoot and presser-bar whereby raising of the latter effects depression of the former and vice versa, a spring 47 tending to raise said presser-bar, a bail 48, an arm 48 pivoted to said bail, a saddle-block 49, a bail 50, a spring 51, and means cooperating with the outer end of the arm 48 for moving the same and the presser-bar vertically; substantially as described.

2. The combination with a presser-foot, of a presser-bar to which the same is connected, a clamp on said resser-bar having one member extending rearwardly, a bifurcated arm cooperating with said extended member of the clamp, a cam for rocking said bifurcated arm, and a yielding wall in said cam; substantially as described.

3. The combination with a presser-foot, of a presser-bar to which the' same is connected, a clamp cooperating with said bar and having a rearwardly-extending member, a bifurcated arm coo crating with said extended member, one o' the jaws of said arm being pivoted, and a lever cooperating with said bifurcated arm to relieve the rearwardly-extending clamp member; substantially as described.

4. The combination with a presser-foot having a rearwardly-extending arm, of a presserbar having slot connection with said arm, a bufier on the end of said arm, a clamp cooperating with said presser-bar, and means cooperating with said clamp to move the bar vertically; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 4th day of February, 1902.

JOEL N. WHIPPLE.

Witnesses:

MARGUERITE SMooT, GALEs P. Moonn. 

